[Congressional Bills 111th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 1124 Introduced in House (IH)]

111th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                H. R. 1124

   To provide for the issuance of a semipostal in order to afford a 
convenient means by which members of the public may contribute towards 
the acquisition of works of art to honor female pioneers in Government 
                                service.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                           February 23, 2009

  Ms. Kaptur introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 
 Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, and in addition to the 
  Committee on House Administration, for a period to be subsequently 
   determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such 
 provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
   To provide for the issuance of a semipostal in order to afford a 
convenient means by which members of the public may contribute towards 
the acquisition of works of art to honor female pioneers in Government 
                                service.

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Honoring Female Congressional 
Pioneers Act of 2009''.

SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

    Congress finds as follows:
            (1) The 74 women currently serving in the House of 
        Representatives owe a debt of gratitude to all of their 
        foremothers who broke down barriers both in their election to, 
        and in the important legislative work they accomplished as 
        Members of, the House of Representatives.
            (2) Four women in particular stand out for their status as 
        the ``first'' women in certain categories.
            (3) In 1916, Jeannette Rankin broke new ground by becoming 
        the first woman elected to the House of Representatives, 
        representing the State of Montana, first from 1917 to 1919 and 
        later from 1941 to 1943.
            (4) Jeannette Rankin's first election was all the more 
        remarkable, considering that it came 3 years before women's 
        suffrage was a legally guaranteed right throughout the United 
        States.
            (5) Jeannette Rankin directly contributed to a woman's 
        right to vote when she introduced a resolution in 1919 to 
        support a women's suffrage amendment to the Constitution of the 
        United States.
            (6) Jeannette Rankin remained true to her pacifistic ideals 
        both by voting against the declarations of World War I and 
        World War II--and in fact was the only Representative to vote 
        against the declaration of World War II--and by working 
        tirelessly to promote peace during her years outside of 
        Congress.
            (7) In 1924, Mary Teresa Norton became the first Democratic 
        woman elected to the House of Representatives--and one of a 
        small number of women during that period who were elected in 
        their own right and not to replace their husbands--representing 
        New Jersey's Twelfth Congressional District from 1925 to 1951.
            (8) Mary Norton served as the chair of the Committee on the 
        District of Columbia from 1931 to 1937, effectively governing 
        the city which at that time had no municipal government of its 
        own.
            (9) In 1934, Mary Norton became the first woman to chair a 
        major political party in a State as head of the New Jersey 
        State Committee.
            (10) Mary Norton was instrumental in the drafting and 
        passage in 1938 of a major piece of President Franklin D. 
        Roosevelt's New Deal: the Fair Labor Standards Act, which 
        established a minimum wage, a maximum workweek, overtime pay, 
        and a prohibition on child labor.
            (11) In 1964, Patsy Takemoto Mink became the first Asian-
        American woman elected to the House of Representatives, 
        representing Hawaii's Second Congressional District from 1965 
        to 1977 and again from 1991 until her death in 2002.
            (12) Patsy Mink secured an assignment to the Committee on 
        Education and Labor, for which her previous expertise and 
        interests made her well-suited, and used her time on that 
        Committee to introduce the first child care bill, as well as 
        bills to provide for bilingual education, student loans, 
        special education, and the Head Start program.
            (13) Patsy Mink gained passage in 1965 of legislation to 
        support the construction of schools in the Trust Territory of 
        the Pacific Islands.
            (14) Patsy Mink established the Democratic Women's Caucus 
        in 1995 and served as its first chair.
            (15) In 1968, Shirley Anita St. Hill Chisholm made history 
        by becoming the first African-American woman elected to the 
        House of Representatives, representing New York's Twelfth 
        Congressional District until her retirement in 1983.
            (16) Shirley Chisholm was a founding member of the 
        Congressional Black Caucus, a fierce advocate for women's 
        rights and democracy, and a staunch opponent of the Vietnam 
        War.
            (17) Shirley Chisholm was an outspoken advocate for equal 
        rights, early childhood education, fair labor standards, and 
        the Martin Luther King, Jr. holiday effort.
            (18) Shirley Chisholm further cemented her place in history 
        when she became the first African-American person to seek a 
        major political party's nomination for President in 1972.
            (19) There is a real need to honor these women and others 
        like them more often in our Nation's artistic and cultural 
        venues.

SEC. 3. SPECIAL POSTAGE STAMP.

    In order to afford the public a convenient means by which to 
contribute towards the acquisition (for public display in the United 
States Capitol and other appropriate locations) of works of art 
honoring Jeannette Rankin, Mary Teresa Norton, Patsy Mink, Shirley 
Anita St. Hill Chisholm, and other female pioneers in Government 
service, the United States Postal Service shall provide for the 
issuance and sale of a semipostal in accordance with section 416 of 
title 39, United States Code, subject to the following:
            (1) Disposition of amounts received.--All amounts becoming 
        available from the sale of the semipostal shall be transferred 
        by the Postal Service to the Capitol Preservation Commission 
        and the House Fine Arts Board (which is hereby authorized to 
        accept any such amounts) under such arrangements as the Postal 
        Service and those entities shall by mutual agreement establish 
        in order to carry out the purposes of this Act.
            (2) No effect on authority to issue other stamps.--No 
        semipostal issued pursuant to this Act shall be taken into 
        account for purposes of applying any numerical limitation 
        established under section 416(e)(1)(C) of such title 39.

SEC. 4. DEFINITIONS.

    For purposes of this Act--
            (1) the term ``semipostal'' has the meaning given such term 
        by section 416(a)(1) of title 39, United States Code;
            (2) any determination of the ``amounts becoming available'' 
        from the sale of the semipostal shall be made in accordance 
        with section 416(d) of such title 39;
            (3) the term ``Capitol Preservation Commission'' means the 
        United States Capitol Preservation Commission, established by 
        section 801 of Public Law 100-696 (2 U.S.C. 2081); and
            (4) the term ``House Fine Arts Board'' means the House of 
        Representatives Fine Arts Board, established by section 1001 of 
        Public Law 100-696 (2 U.S.C. 2121).
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